Barcelona
Barcelona is a pre-war Spanish city, capital of the autonomous community of Catalonia, of the region of Barcelonés and of the homonymous province. It is located on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, about 120 km south of the Pyrenees mountain range and the old French border, on a small coastal plain bounded by the sea to the east, the Collserola mountain range to the west, the Llobregat river to the south and the Besós river to the north. Because it has been the capital of the county of Barcelona, it is often referred to as the antonomastic denomination of Ciudad Condal. The history of Barcelona extends over 4000 years, from the end of the Neolithic, with the first remains found in the territory of the city, until today. The substrate of its inhabitants unites the Iberian, Roman, Jewish, Visigoth, Muslim and Christian peoples. As the capital of Catalonia and second largest city in Spain, Barcelona has forged its relevance over time, from being a small Roman colony to becoming a city valued internationally for aspects such as its economy, its artistic heritage, its culture, its sport and its social life. Barcelona has been the scene of several international events that have helped to consolidate it, develop it and give it worldwide exposure. The most relevant have been the Universal Exhibition of 1888, the International Exhibition of 1929, the 1992 Olympic Games and the Universal Forum of Cultures 2004. It was also the headquarters of the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean. Geographic Regions. The city of Barcelona is located on the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian peninsula, right in the center of the river deltas of the Llobregat, to the southwest, and Besós, to the northeast. Its municipality limits, south and in the clockwise direction, with the municipalities of: Prat de Llobregat, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Esplugas de Llobregat, San Justo Desvern, San Feliu de Llobregat, Molins de Rey, San Cugat del Valles, Sardañola del Vallés, Moncada and Reixach, Santa Coloma de Gramanet and San Adrián de Besós. The first two and the last two are the municipalities with which the city maintains a closer contact, with a dense continuous urban mesh that unites them, on the contrary San Cugat del Vallés and Sardañola del Vallés are very separated from Barcelona, since the Sierra Litoral and the natural park of the Collserola mountain range act as natural barriers. Barcelona has a small part of its municipal area on the slope of the Llobregat of the Collserola mountain range. This is the Vallvidrera and the Plans, which are located in the Collserola natural park. It is also part of the municipality of Santa Cruz de Olorde, riding between the Vallés Occidental and the Bajo Llobregat. In this way, Barcelona is the capital of the Barcelonés region, which is formed by the municipalities of Barcelona, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Badalona, Santa Coloma de Gramanet and San Adrián de Besós. This region limits to the north with the Vallés Occidental, to the northeast with the regions of the Vallés Oriental and the Maresme, to the east and to the southeast with the Mediterranean Sea and to the west with the region of the Lower Llobregat. 'Sites & Settlements' 'Active Groups & Organizations' Category:Places Category:Spain